Ray Breaux once was taught that man faces three challenges in life: Man vs. man, man vs. nature and man vs. himself.
As a former semi-pro football player and accomplished hunter, Breaux has fought two of those battles. Now, his final conflict has brought him full circle.
Two months short of his 73rd birthday, Breaux feels the need for the ultimate fight, a battle against himself to prove his own moxy.
Throughout his life, Breaux has always enjoyed the more manly sports of boxing, football and hunting.
He is now taking his enjoyment of the more physical sports to the next level, competing in martial arts cage matches, similar to those on the Ultimate Fighting Championship series.
“To be realistic, I knew I could never excel to the degree those pro fighters have become,” Breaux said. “So I decided to test my mettle to find out how much man was left in my aging body.”
After several months of practice fights in a cage at Andy’s Welding Service in Magnolia, where he now regularly competes against local fighters, Breaux tried his hand at the real thing in September for the first time.
Although his debut lasted just one round before he was forced to submit via an armbar, Breaux gained the respect of his 18-year-old opponent.
“He told me, ‘When you hit me, you really hit me,’ ” said Breaux, known by his family and friends as the Gray Warrior. “He stuck his jaw out and I hit him. I was rocking him.”
In his second professional fight this past Saturday night in Magnolia, Breaux managed to go two rounds before losing.
Despite the violent nature of the cage match, Breaux said he isn’t overly concerned with any danger he may encounter.
“It ain’t dangerous,” he joked. “ If they kill you, they can’t eat you.”
Of course, Breaux also knows his limitations.
“I think I just like to fight,” he said. “But I wouldn’t fight Mike Tyson. I draw the line there. I don’t fight any world-class professionals. I know my limitations by my age and experience.”
Even still, Breaux still gets plenty of resistance from his wife, Darleen.
“She is not for it one bit at all,” he said. “She is adamant about me not doing this. She always tells me, ‘If you get hurt, it’s your fault.’ ”
If he does get hurt, Breaux can always go back to his love of hunting.
Breaux just returned from a hunting trip in Hazlehurst, where he bagged a 7-point, 182-pound buck with a bow and arrow.
During the years that he has hunted, Breaux has collected an impressive list of animals. Over the past 45 years, he says he has bagged 120 to 130 deer and 43 wild hogs, including one with a spear.
At the age of 65, he played one season at running back for the Hammond Headhunters semi-pro football team.
“I was more of a benchwarmer than a player,” he quipped.
Boxing, however, has been his main love. Breaux got his start in boxing at the Baton Rouge Police Academy in the 1970s, where he was in three to four matches three times a year. As a member of the Baton Rouge Police Department, Breaux reached the rank of lieutenant.
While he knows his time in the cage is limited, Breaux wants to make the most of it and prove to himself just how tough he really is.
“It’s a gut-check time, when you step up to the cage door and see your opponent there,” he said. “I’m probably not staying in this for long. My goal is to see if I have enough man in me, how much strength is left in my old body. That’s all I want to find out.”
